The 16 most infamous crimes in Bay Area history

November 11, 2013 |Kevin Fagan & Katie Dowd

The Chronicle

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The Jack the Ripper of the Bay Area: Zodiac is our bogeyman.

On August 1, 1969, the San Francisco Chronicle received its first letter from a man who called himself Zodiac. A series of cryptograms — only the first of which was ever definitively cracked — were sent from Zodiac to various media outlets in the Bay Area.

The letters revealed a spree of murders: Police believe Zodiac killed at least five — three women, one teen boy and a cab driver in San Francisco. His last confirmed murder took place on October 11, 1969 but he continued sending letters to the Chronicle for several more years before going silent.

In 2002, former Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith posited the killer was Arthur Leigh Allen, a theory that was adapted for the film “Zodiac” by David Fincher. The murders remain unsolved although cold case officials in Napa County report still receiving two to three tips per week.

On August 1, 1969, the San Francisco Chronicle received its first letter from a man who called himself Zodiac. A series of cryptograms — only the first of which was ever definitively cracked — were sent from Zodiac to various media outlets in the Bay Area.

The letters revealed a spree of murders: Police believe Zodiac killed at least five — three women, one teen boy and a cab driver in San Francisco. His last confirmed murder took place on October 11, 1969 but he continued sending letters to the Chronicle for several more years before going silent.

In 2002, former Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith posited the killer was Arthur Leigh Allen, a theory that was adapted for the film “Zodiac” by David Fincher. The murders remain unsolved although cold case officials in Napa County report still receiving two to three tips per week.